Shotgun cartridge



March 9 1926. 1,575,716

w. J. PAVEK SHOTGUN CARTRIDGE Filed May 18, 1925 71121711655425; I171/2467 Zwr;

W i ZiZZz'am J: fizz/ 6k Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

FEQE.

WILLIAM J'. PAVEK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHOTGUN CARTRIDGE.

Application filed May 18, 1925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM J. PAVEK, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ShotgunCartridges, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shotgun cartridges. involving a high pressure orpower ful explosive charge and involving a projectile charge composedpartly of soft shot and partly of hard shot, and the main object of myinvention is the provision of an improved cartridge of this characterwhich will be especially effective in producing a dense pattern at longrange.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of partshereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood-by reference to the accompanyingdrawing, forming a part of this specification, and in which, i

Fig. 1 represents a sectional view of a cartridge containing a mixedprojectile charge;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a cartridge con t-aining a tandem projectilecharge;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a cartridge containing a compound projectilecharge; and

Fig. l represents a cross section taken approximately on the line 41 ofFig.

Those experienced in the use of shotguns well know how the pressure ofpowerful explosive charges flatten or tend to flatten the soft leadshot, how such missiles, when deformed, deviate from a straight path andscatter, and how an increase in effectiveness of the explosive chargewill more effectively scatter the shot. It will also be appreciated thata choke bored gun is more effective in flattening and deforming the leadshot than a cylinder bored gun, since with the choke bored gun the massof shot must pass through a restricted area with the general result thatthe soft lead shot during passage through the choke are changed fromround missiles to missiles of flattened form. Instead of being utilizedentirely to lengthen the shot column, a portion of the compressiveforce, produced by the choke, is always absorbed in the deforn'lation orflattening of' Serial No. 30,906.

have beendeformed either by pressure or by 'hard material, and in partof soft shot made of lead; the hard and soft shot being disposed andrelated in such manner that the soft shot, serving as convoying buffers,will yield and flatten during trajection through the choke therebypermitting the projectile charge to pass through without such resistanceas will cause the hard shot to cut and damage the barrel. 'In thisconnection the soft shot perform a seccnd'function and serve as aconvoy, preventing the hard shot from rebounding on each other and.scattering, thereby producing a dense pattern at long range.

, Referring now to the preferred embodiments of my invention asillustrated in the accompanying drawing, the numeral 5 denotes a shellof usual construction and provided in the usual way with a high pressureexplosive charge consisting of powder 6 and wads 7, and of a projectilecharge composed of commingled steel shot 8 and soft lead shot 9. In theform illustrated in Fig. 2 I show a tandem projectile charge, in which amass of soft lead shot 10 is arrangedadjacent the dis-char ing end ofthe shell while behind the soft lead shot is arranged a mass of steel.shot 11. in this tandem construction, the steel shot are preferablyn'iade larger than the soft lead shot, the increase in diameter being,for example. as illustrated, approximately ten percent. ln thisconstruction also, the mass of steel shot, by prefercin'ie. constitutesthe smaller part of the total projectile charge. back of the soft leadshot, the difficulty of flattening the soft lead shot through thepressure. of the explosion is overcome; and if the charge of hard shotisnot too large. the hard and soft missiles will become mixed throughfriction with the barrel and through the disturbance produced from thepassing from. the cartridge into the barrel, so that there will be acoinmingled mass by the By placing the hard shot in to as an example ofthe soft shot.

time the choke of the gun is reached. This arrangement, therefore,overcomes the usual difficulties encountered with the use aloneof'either hard shot or soft shot.

In Fig. 3, I illustrate a compound projectile charge, in which ther-eisprovided a relatively small massof soft lead shot 12 adja cent to thedischarging end of the shell; then behind this mass of soft shot arelatively large mass of hard shot 13 comniingled with the soft shot 12,followed by i small mass of hard shot 13. By thus combining the mixedand the segregated methods of loading, I obtaln excellent re-.

sults when very heavy loads are employed. By providing projectilecharges in acments are not confined to any one type of load; nor to anyparticular material from which the missiles are to be made, althoughsteel is mentioned herein as an example of the hard shot and althoughlead is referred It is also to be understood that the hard shot maybe-larger in diameter. In such a case the soft shot tend to be containedpartly in the voids between the hard shot instead of completelydisplacing them, and this, of course, reduces the total volume or spaceoccupied by the 'coinmingled mass of shot. .In the tandem construction,it increases the facility with which the soft shot find their waythrough the hardsl ot, producing a com-' .plete mixture, when the chokeis reached,

with a larger charge of hard shot than when both are of. the same size.

It is probable that lead may generally be used forthe soft shot and thatthe hard shot will be made of materials of lower specific gravity thanthat of the material in the soft shot. Then this is the case the hardshot may be made larger in volume to have the same weight and thereforethe same energy at the muzzle as the smaller soft shot. On the otherhand the difference in size may be made such as to produce equalvelocity, penetrationor energy, or any de sired ratio of ballisticcharacteristics to those of the soft shot at the range for which thecartridge is intended.

lVhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying: my invention into. effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. 1, therefore, do .notwish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth,

but desire to avail myself of suchvariatioiisv and modifications-as comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentis: v

1. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed in part of soft shot and in partof liardshot, sub-- stantiallyas described. I

2. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a high pressure explosivecharge and a projectile charge composed in part of softas described. I

A shotgun cartridge characterized "by having a projectile chargecomposed partly of soft SliOhzUltl partly of hard shot, posishot and inpart of hard shot, substantially.

v. r V g I V 'tioned and related to allow flattening of the 'soft shotduring the agitation instant to muzzle trajection to preventcutting ofthe bore by the unyielding'l'iard shot, substaiitially as described.

4. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed partly of soft shot and partly of hard shot, positioned andrelated to insure flattening of the soft shot.under the reactions of thehard,

shot duriiig'agitation instantto muzzle trajection to secure a densepattern of thehard shot,substantially as described. 7 v

5. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed of commingled hard and soft shot, substantially as described.

having a projectile charge composed of a mass of soft shot ad acent tothe discharging 6. A shotgun cartridge characterized by c end of theshell and a mass of hard shot behind the mass of soft shot,substantially as described.

7. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed of a mass of soft shot adjacent to the discharging end of theshell, amass of commin'gled hard and soft shot behind the mass of softshot, and a mass of hard shot behind the mass of commingledshotgsubstantially as described.

8'. A shotgun; cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed of a mass of eommingled soft shot adjacent to thedischargingend of the shell, amass of hard shot behind the soft shot, the hard shotbeing larger than the soft shot, substantially as described.

9. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed of a mass/of soft shot adjacent to the discharging end of theshell, and a mass of hard shot behind the soft shot, the mass of hardshot constituting the. smaller part of the total mass of the projectile,substantially as described.

10. A shotgun cartridge characterized by i having a projectile, composedof a mass of soft shot adjacent to the discharging end of the shell, amass of hard shot behind the soft shot, the hard shot being larger thanthe soft shot and constituting the smaller part of the total mass of theprojectile, substantially as described.

11. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed in part of soft shot and in part of hard shot the soft and hardshot being of such sizes as to have approximately equal Weight,substantially as described.

12. A shotgun cartridge characterized by having a projectile chargecomposed in part of soft shot and in part of hard shot, the 15 soft andhard shot being of such sizes that there will be predetermined ratiosamong their various ballistic characteristics at a certain range fromthe muzzle of the gun, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM J. PAVEK.

